St Mary’s was opened on 3 March 1884 as St. Mary’s (Whitechapel) by the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Railway.
This initial service was withdrawn on 1 October 1884 and one week later the services were taken over jointly by the Metropolitan Railway and the District Railway. The station was located very close to both Aldgate East and Whitechapel stations.
In 1938, Aldgate East station was relocated further east and its new entrance was to be only a few hundred metres from St Mary’s. Therefore the latter was permanently closed after the final train on 30 April 1938 in advance of the opening of the relocated Aldgate East.
During the Second World War, the station site was leased from London Transport by the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney for use as an air raid shelter.
The structure was demolished after the war and there is little evidence of the station’s existence. The bricked-up platforms are still accessible to TfL staff via an anonymous door off Whitechapel Road.
The connection line leading to the old East London Line from the District Line is still called the St Mary’s Curve.
